Changing
by ImmortalFlick
Summary: Slash. JackWill. EN. It's five years later and what has changed?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Changing  
  
Author: ImmortalFlick  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing at all.  
  
Pairing: Jack/Will  
  
Summary: Will is cheated on by Elizabeth with Norrington, he leaves to be the pirate he's meant to be. (a damned good one) and five years later (after gaining quite the reputation) he comes across... yes that's right, Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl! hallejuiah folks, love is abound.  
  
*...* is thinking, probably Jacks. I love to pretend I know what he's thinking, hey in this fic I do!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The crack in the door showed more than he wanted to know. The sounds told him they were definitely enjoying it. He knew the wedding was off before it had even begun. Will leant against the wall, his heart pounding painfully. Norrington and his Elizabeth, no, not his anymore, Norrington's. It was what she wanted, she'd had her brush with adventure, now the playing was over, time to settle down. Will was a playful adventure, nothing more. It hurt to think of himself as such but he squelched the feeling of betrayal. Elizabeth would be happy with Norrington, he knew it. Her heart lied elsewhere and if he were to search his own soul he would find his did too. Only Will didn't know where exactly. Although looking out on the sea he had some idea of where it wanted to go. Out there.   
  
Will decided in an instant. He turned, retrieved his hat and sword and wrote one word as a farewell to Elizabeth. FREEDOM. He signed it 'Will'. He knew the many interpretations Elizabeth would find. Her loving Norrington, his leaving, the sea, the Black Pearl, Jack. Only he wasn't going to run to the Black Pearl. Run to Jack. No matter his feelings for the pirate. Will knew what he needed to do and by God would he do it. First he needed to become what called him, then, maybe, he could follow his heart. All the way back to the lying, cheating bastard who was Captain Jack Sparrow. Will walked right to the docks and commendeered a ship, an act of piracy to be proud of, and sailed out of Port Royal alone and heavy hearted.   
  
**Five years later**  
  
The trinket covered, perptually half-drunk pirate slauntered onto the dock of a place he remembered vividly. A memorable voyage that was. Memorable indeed. His first stop: see how Will was doing, if he'd got the girl etc. Jack found his way to the blacksmithy where he'd first met Will. His sneaking had only improved with time. The pirate was surprised when the Blacksmith wasn't Will at all, he was a young man, maybe twenty.   
  
*What is this? Will wouldn't give this up just for being married to the governer's daughter. He'd soon bore doing nothing all day with his blood, Bootstrap's blood. Bootstrap couldn't sit still for a second. *  
  
Jack hated to admit it but he was confused. He jumped down from the rafters he was hiding in. The young Blacksmith turned around when he heard the thump. A strange recognition appeared on his face.   
  
"Hey, you're Jack!" He accused.  
  
"That would be Captain, savvy?"  
  
The boy ignored him. "Will used to talk about you."  
  
Jack looked hurt. "He doesn't anymore?"  
  
"Not since he left, no."  
  
The pirate was suddenly tugged to alert. "Left?"  
  
"Yeah, after Mrs Swann went behind his back with the Commodore he left."  
  
"An' when was this?"  
  
"Five years ago."  
  
*Five years?*  
  
"Do ye know where?"  
  
"Some say he killed himself. I reckon he went to sea. He would sit, after work, every day outside and stare out into the harbour. He didn't want to be here at all, he wanted to be out there."  
  
"Knew he'd follow 'is blood!" Jack exclaimed to himself.  
  
"If you're goin'a find Will, tell him Leigh said 'Good luck and thankyou'."  
  
"Thankyou?"  
  
"He was a great teacher."  
  
*Of course, Will thought of a way out even unconsciously. By training the kid he could leave, no obligations to say. Very clever.*  
  
"I'll do that then."  
  
He spun in a usual Drunk Jack manner.   
  
"Oh wait, and good luck yourself."  
  
Jack nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
*What for?*  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Elizabeth was looking fine.   
  
*Pregnant women always glow.*  
  
Jack had seen a far share in Tortuga, women were always getting knocked up there and a lot of them took it rather well.  
  
"So it'd be Norrington's then?" Jack's question startled the woman holding a purple scarf, which was promptly dropped at the sight of the familiar pirate.   
  
"Jack!" She yelled, a delighted look on her face. She leapt toward him and hugged him fiercly. The Captain froze at the intimacy before awkwardly patting on the back.  
  
"Hey there lass."  
  
Elizabeth finally broke away with a silly grin on his face.  
  
"I haven't seen you in years!"  
  
"Five." The smile left her face, replaced by a sorrowful look.  
  
"It's Norrington's, we're married."  
  
"And Will?" He knew this part of the story but not the details.  
  
"He left when he found out about the Commodore and I."  
  
"Left?" He inquired for the second time that day.  
  
"He wrote 'freedom' and left."  
  
"There was a ship found missing from the dock." A voice explained. The two saw the Commodore at the door.  
  
"Norrington." Jack nodded.  
  
"Sparrow." Norrington responded, contempt no longer in his voice but a note of acceptance.  
  
"A pirate's life for me." Jack sang his favorite song softly.   
  
"It was Will's calling." Elizabeth didn't sound sorrowful anymore, she sounded content.  
  
"Will you give him a message for me?" She already knew where he was going.  
  
"Sure, luv."  
  
"Tell him I'm sorry I didn't call it off before I chose the Commodore."  
  
Jack just nodded. The injustice of cheating always got him down. How much it hurt. Considering how much he'd done, that may have been a strange thought. He had been rooting for the Commodore but still... not like that.   
  
The sea was full of pirates, hundreds even, so to find one Jack thought would be very hard indeed. Well every now and then Captain Jack Sparrow could be wrong, it couldn't happen all the time though, it would ruin his reputation.   
  
Of all the reputations of pirates, one had begun five years ago. The 'Shadow of the Sea' they called him.  
  
*The Shadow*  
  
There was a fellow. He had begun a few years back and had quickly gained a widespread admiration. Quite a character. No one had actually seen the pirate as of yet. That'd be why he was called the Shadow.  
  
~"Black Pearl? I've heard stories. She's been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never left any survivors."  
  
"No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?"~  
  
The memory made him smile. Well, there's where he was going then, to find the Shadow. Even if he wasn't Will maybe he'd know where the kid had gone. He was decided.  
  
*Now where's the rum?* 


	2. Chapter 2

-Jade Stellar- Neither could I, thanks to your review :), oh, and: yeah, you do have to love it.   
  
-Esmerelda Black- It was picturing Will as a pirate captain that began this story in the first place. It was too hard to ignore. But, *sniffles* you may not like my portrayal of Will as a pirate captain *sniffle*. Oh well, that's life :).  
  
-Pyrokitsune- I'm continuing, it didn't end there.   
  
-Em- I don't like it as much when they go at it right away so I especially avoided doing that in 'Changing'. As for the future, I probably won't be able to resist it, so they will jump in the sack soon. Not too soon if I can restrain myself.  
  
-Grey Elven-Eyes- Thanks, about the Norrington accepting Jack, well it just happened because as I wrote it I began to see that Norrington would have changed, maybe mellowed a bit from being with Elizabeth and having an incoming daughter et cetera.   
  
-Gwendellen Snape- PLEASE READ THIS, I read your bio and you mentioned you dislike slash, I hope you realise that this story is going to be slash, I did mention that in the summary. Just a warning, I hate flames and would be disappointed to find one in my mail sometime soon. Thanks.  
  
-Pookie11- I love your Singapore idea, but sadly, or not so sadly :), Jack is a pirate, I can't imagine him staying in one place too long, so yes, Jack did go to Singapore, but only occasionally, and the rest of the time he was at sea. (sorry to burst any bubbles, after all, I love bubbles!)About him not knowing about the marriage: I thought about it and I came to the conclusion that it's actually pretty unlikely that he would know about the marriage when he hadn't come back to Port Royale, they aren't world famous after all, just my opinion. Leigh is a lovely little figment of my over-active imagination.  
  
Also thanks to anyone else who reviewed.   
  
Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean is not mine. None of the characters are mine et cetera.  
  
Changing   
  
Chapter 2  
  
The sea breeze blew through his hair, his small smile showing any watchers that he was content, if not perfectly happy. If not perfectly whole. He shook the feeling off. The Shadow let his gaze sweep upon the deck of his ship, his eyes somewhat laughing as he saw the name of his ship once again, the story of her name coming to mind. The man he'd ordered to paint the name couldn't spell to save his life and ironically met an untimely demise. When he'd told him 'Freedom Whisper' would be her name, the man had been too stupid to ask how it was spelt. He'd begun freedom with only one 'e'. Unfortunately he was run through before finishing. The ship was left with the word 'Fred' on the side, the crew had found it hilarious, and the Shadow had obviously found some source of amusement within the name, so the ship was christened 'Fred'. Although the name wasn't exactly... intimidating, as such it was strangely fitting for the atomosphere onboard.   
  
There wasn't much to worry about now. The Shadow's past was little thought about and never talked about. All his crew knew is that he'd appeared 5 years ago and was great with a sword. They would know that because The Shadow didn't stand for slackers or betrayers. He'd been through enough men to man three boats and knew what it meant to kill.   
  
There wasn't much else anyone could say about him, no one could really claim they were close. They could turn to the first mate, but he was tight lipped when questions were asked. They could turn to the Shadow himself, but all feared the kind of farewell the Shadow had given a man who had forgotten to tell the captain there was a rope broken on the sails. The captain wasn't very happy.   
  
All this didn't make the Shadow a bad man, although he was a pirate and all pirates have a certain lack of morals, it just made him a tough command to live under. For there wasn't much worse than a lazy crew and the Shadow defintitely didn't have that. He'd made his blunders at the beginning of his career. He'd actually been run through and survived. Just.   
  
In the beginning there were mutineers and people who thought he was too strict on his code. They were narrowed down soon enough when the Shadow learned the ropes, you could kill anyone because no one really missed a pirate when they were dead, you can do anything you like as long as you don't get dead. That was all you needed to know.   
  
Because if anyone dared to delve into the Shadows past they would find that he was once a man who had so many morals he was being ripped apart by them. They would find a man who had loved and lost, they would find a man called William Turner. William Turner who lived on Port Royale, had an adventure with the well known pirate, Jack Sparrow, got engaged to a lass who slept with another man, and missed the well known pirate so strongly he'd left Porty Royale with nothing left behind him.   
  
That man wasn't known now, according to many he no longer lived. But he did, he'd just changed. Grown up a little. Learned a little more. Gotten a little wiser. But the only thing, in the end, that really mattered was power and passion. Power over things, people and places; passion about things, people and places. The same thing but different.   
  
The Shadow had power and passion. The Shadow had more than enough of both. So that may have been what led him to return to the Caribbean. It was home. Simple, true, home. But what he would find there was beyond him. Did he hope to find his past? He knew his past, it was nothing worth talking about. Did he hope to find his future? He wasn't going to find that here. It was to be found elsewhere, on bitter seas and windy sails. It was to be found in freedom. Although he was somewhat curious as to how Elizabeth had ended up. No doubt happy. She could find happiness anywhere, and if she found it in Norrington, so be it. Undeniably curious.   
  
Jack. No, he didn't want to touch on that subject right now. It wasn't the territory he was willing to explore. It was the locked part of his mind that he stayed well away from. For it was where forbidden desires lie. Why forbidden? Because they would be unwelcomed advances. Very unwelcome. Then again, having known Jack...   
  
*He was awfully... flamboyant*  
  
No, he daren't think it. It was a ridiculous thought anyhow. The Shadow shook off the thought and looked ahead at the seas. They were beautiful.  
  
*Like Jack?*  
  
Gods! Where were these thoughts coming from today? Just having sailed into the Caribbean must've brought back old memories.  
  
*Good memories.*  
  
Yes, they were good memories. Adventure and friendship.  
  
*And wishes of something more*  
  
He indulged in the fantasy. Yes, and wishes of something more. Much more. He sighed.   
  
"Capt'n, Port Royale is close, are yer gahn in?" His first mate asked. Dervis was always a good first mate. Loyal to boot.   
  
"Tomorrow, Dervis, keep us out of sight."  
  
"Yes, sir."   
  
Tomorrow. Tomorrow sounded good.  
  
*Hoping to see Jack there*  
  
No, he wasn't. Stupid thing to think. Jack wasn't going to go tie himself to one place as soon as he arrived. No, no, he meant, he didn't want to see Jack anyway.  
  
*Must stay away from those thoughts*  
  
He could see the Port now. Shame he really couldn't think of it as home any longer. He was a pirate, a captain. Fred was his home. Dear Fred. 


	3. Chapter 3

Changing  
  
ImmortalFlick  
  
Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean is not mine.   
  
Warnings: Slash.  
  
A/N: Sorry for taking so long, I'm really lazy.  
  
A/N2: Things in the _pretty italics_ are the thoughts they used to be in-between asterisks but fanfiction.net doesn't agree.  
  
Thanks to:  
  
Kendarath - Here ya go, sorry bout the wait. Thank you. Great, well, I did keep you waiting but better late than never.  
  
RAiNbOwGrL22 - I loved it too, those two were definitely very hot. I did continue it, just took a while.  
  
Than Stillman - Thanks. Yep. Here ya go.  
  
moonlightgodess - Glad you like Fred. Um, yesterday was a long time ago, I know, and I did take a long time I know, personal problems and personal laziness. Here's a new chapter to chew on. clinks back  
  
SunGodess1 - Great! Welcome to the outside world! Good, again, sorry it took so long.  
  
saiFong - It isn't stopped, I'm sorry. Here's the next chapter! I live to be slightly original. Here's more! Here's more! I hope you enjoy it.   
  
(/)  
  
Changing - Chapter 3  
  
(/)  
  
The captain walked off his ship with a sense of longing. Time to be welcomed back to the real world. The crew knew that this stop off was different somehow. Not in the fact that the Shadow had said anything, but in the way his eyes twinkled somehow, a hint of sadness.  
  
_I miss this place. I really do.  
_  
Will could hardly recognize the port anymore, it had changed in the five years he'd been gone. Will Turner's home. His name sounded so foreign, even in his mind. He had to stop and think: was that his real name? It confused him.  
  
Was he Will Turner? The naive young blacksmith apprentice with little to his name and no parents? No. He was a pirate now. A bloody good one too. Did his share of pillaging, sailing and drinking. A lot of drinking, sometimes he thought he was trying to get over something. Someone?   
  
He winced as a stair creaked. This building was far too big to be sensible. It would take ages to find the documents he was after and Will didn't want to be too long for he was sure this place wasn't open to visitors.  
  
What was he doing here? A ridiculous idea, to come back to where hemost probably wasn't welcome. He felt tempted to step back onto Fred and leave. His ship was his home now. Not this sad port with too many bad memories. But the Shadow was no coward and he was here for a reason: there was something of a mystery that needed to be solved.  
  
There had been many rumors about the sail of a ship from this port mid spring, now it was winter and the Shadow was curious as to what parts of these rumors were true. It was said the ship was huge, was of foreign origin and was boarded by pirates three years ago. They were the worst since the Black Pearl.   
  
The Shadow did not like the sound of it one bit, he wasn't going to pretend it was because the pirates were hurting anyone, that was normal, no, he didn't like the sound of it because they were threatening his reputation. One of them claimed to know where he was and was ready to deliver his head on a stick to several of the ports who had him on high priority. Sure, if he was caught he would be able to get away, but it would destroy his air of mystery. Some people called him a myth and he'd like it to stay that way.  
  
"Oi, you! You're not meant to be here!" Will sighed. No, he wasn't meant to be here one bit.  
  
The man was balding, short and fat. He looked flushed and no wonder, this building, Will had decided, was most definitely not sensible. "Dear sir, I was wondering if you could help me off 'here' actually." May as well be nice, considering he liked his head and wanted to keep low profile.  
  
_Besides, he looks nice enough._  
  
"Down, second door to the right, two sets of stairs and fourth door on your left." Will blinked. That was terribly easy. "But could I take your name?"  
  
"Will." He decided after a minute. "Will Turner." That would do. No one was would remember it. "And it would do you good to remember it." He might as well make himself someone important while he was here.  
  
"Of course. Mr. Turner. I am George Potter. May I enquire as to your business here?" Business? Well he was here to steal some papers that would help him find an old friend of his but he was very sure that would not please George.  
  
"I'm here on matters of high importance." The Shadow grinned inwardly. He should have some fun while he would not be recognized as anything he truly was. "I hunt pirates and report their whereabouts to threatened ports and towns."  
  
"Really? How interesting!" People were so easily fooled. Though Will couldn't help but like the small man, he had a charm about him.  
  
"Indeed. In fact, I'm here to warn you about a pirate who plans to visit here. The Shadow. Have you heard of him?"  
  
To his chagrin the man laughed. "A myth, surely! I've heard his ship is named 'Fred'!"  
  
He would be outraged, but it would not work for his case. "Sounds like this captain found it amusing, isn't that a sign of true genius, to not be worried of other people?"  
  
"Yes, dear friend," He let out a raucous, hacking laugh again. "I'm sure it is." Potter was humoring him, Will frowned, he hated it when people did that.  
  
"I hear the Shadow is a strong and formidable foe, and he is cunning and quick-witted."  
  
_Maybe I'm becoming a bit self-absorbed?  
_  
"I would say the same of you, Mr. Turner, but you don't look like a pirate." That sentence was enough to lift Will's spirits once more.   
  
"No, I don't, do I?" He laughed with Potter, and suggested they have a drink, the other man forgetting his suspicions at the second pint.  
  
(/)  
  
Will didn't get the papers he was after, the ones that would tell him where Jack would be, at first he had decided it wasn't worth finding the man, it would only mess with his head. But after a while Will knew that Jack would know any other pirate on the seas, and that would be most useful. How did he know to look here? Norrington would never stop searching for the pirate, he had far too much pride. And he slept with other people's wives. Coward.  
  
The Shadow decided he would go back tomorrow, he had established an identity of sorts and that would help him in his business. A slow grin crept across his face. Will Turner, Pirate Hunter, at Port Royale on important business: to find Jack Sparrow. It would go over well as long as he didn't run into Norrington.   
  
_Not that the bastard doesn't stick his nose into everything. Including marriages._   
  
Will wondered if he was bitter about the affair. It wasn't as if he made Elizabeth happy, in fact he more likely made her miserable. Because he would much rather be at sea and the sex was passionless. It was on the honeymoon Will had realized his pining after Elizabeth wasn't sexual but more of a friendly, sisterly feeling. He also began to realize his pining after Jack Sparrow was much more than friendly. Of course, he'd realized pining after a man was not completely normal, he'd thought that maybe Jack symbolized adventure and freedom. Until the dreams of a very nude Jack entered his sleep.   
  
_And brilliant dreams they were.  
_  
Will grinned at the thought.   
  
Tomorrow he would enter that building with a professional air about him and he would find those papers. Without finding Norrington on the way.   
  
(/)  
  
End Chapter Three  
  
Short. Took ages. Forced. I know. Very sorry. Very, very sorry. Please forgive me. Drop me some suggestions in your review, and I'll see what I can do. Hope you enjoyed. Please review. 


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